Swaged bullet forming apparatus



June 1, 1965 s. 1.. MITTELSTEADT SWAGED BULLET FORMING APPARATUS Filed June 12, 1963 x mwzswmxm u INVENTOR.

45v 4. M/WELSEHDT BY wmq m ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,186,058 SWAGED BULLET FORMING APPARATUS Glen 1.. Mittelsteadt, Waseca, Minn, assignor to Herters Inc, Waseca, Minn, a corporation of Minnesota Filed June 12, 1%3, Ser. No. 287,381 1 Claim. (Cl. 291.2)

This invention relates to bullet for use in hand guns such as pistols and revolvers, and more specifically to lubricated swaged bullets.

Although lubricant has been used on bullets in the past, no bullets have been devised that may be swaged by hand-operated equipment and adapted to carry lubricant.

An object of my invention is to provide a new and improved swaged bullet of simple and inexpensive construction and operation and adapted to carry lubricant.

Another object of my invention is to provide a new and improved swaged bullet for hand guns such as pistols and revolvers which may be readily and easily swaged in hand-operated bullet-forming and reloading equipment and adapted to carry a lubricant.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a novel apparatus for forming by swaging, bullets which are grooved to receive and carry lubricant.

These and other objects and advantages of my invention will more fully appear from the following description made in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference characters refer to similar parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation, view of the swaged bullet and also showing in dotted lines the relationship of the bullet to a cartridge case into which the bullet is placed;

FIG. 2 in an elevation view, partly broken away and shown in section of the female die in which the bullet of FIG. 1 is formed;

FIG. 3 is an elevation view partly broken away and partly shown in section of the die illustrated in FIG. 2 and showing certain. of the components in shifted position and innse in the swaging of a bullet;

FIG. 4 is a. detail section view taken substantially at 44- in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an elevation view, partly broken away, of a bullet similar to that of FIG. 1, but having a different bullet weight; and

FIG. 6 is an elevation view, part-1y broken away, and shown in section of a slightly different form of bullet than that illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 5, and

FIG. 7 is an enlarged detail section view as indicated at 7-7 in FIG. 1 and showing lubricant applied in the grooves.

The bullet illustrated in FIG. 1 is indicated in general by numeral 10 and comprises a solid body 11 formed of either pure lead or with small quantities of other metal such as antimony mixed into the lead; however, where herein the word lead is used, said word or expression is specifically defined to include pure lead or lead mixed with such other metals as are used in connection with the swaging of bullets.

The body 11 is cylindrically shaped and has a base end 12, a nose end 13 and an outer periphery 14 which is cylindrical. The base end 12 is flat. The outer periphery 14 has a smooth and unbroken cylindrical band 15 formed adjacent the base end 12. In this form of bullet 10 the band 15 is relatively narrow, and may as hereinafter more fully pointed out, vary considerably in width in order to facilitate adding of weight to the bullet 10.

The outer periphery 14 of the body 11 has a plurality of grooves 16 formed therein and equally spaced around the entire periphery. The grooves 16 have closed ends 16a adjacent the continuous band 15, and the grooves 3,186,958 Patented June 1, 1965 have open forward ends 16b adjacent the nose-end. 13. It will be seen in FIG. 4 wherein the cross sectional shape of the body 11 is illustrated that the grooves 16 are of substantially greater width than depth.

Between the several grooves 16 of body 11, the outer periphery defines a plurality of elongate parallel ribs 17- which extend parallel to the axis of the cylindrical body 11 as do the grooves 16. The outer periphery 14 of the body 11 defines the top surfaces 17a of ribs 17 which lie flush with the continuous and unbroken cylindrical band 15.

When the bullet 10 has been swaged in the form illustrated in FIG. 1, the grooves 16 are filled with lubricant 18 such that the outer surface of the lubricant lies flush with the periphery of the bullet, and .so that the periphery of the bullet appears substantially cylindrical in shape when the grooves have been filled. The lubricant 18 is of a well known nature for lubricating between bullets and barrels and is in a relatively stiff and non-flowable form and may comprise a heavy silicone grease.

The nose end 13 in the form illustrated in FIG. 1 is substantially semi-spherical to provide the bullet with a round nose. It should be noted that the nose end 13, may be differently shaped if desired.

In FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 the dies for forming the bullet 10 are illustrated. The female die assembly is indicated. in general by numeral 23 and includes a mounting sleeve 21 which is exterior-1y threaded as at 22 for threadably mounting the sleeve in the frame of a reloading press.

The mounting sleeve has interior threads 23 adjacent its.

lower end for receiving an exteriorly threaded female die sleeve of especially hardened steel alloy. The sleeve 24 has a band of spaced and parallel ribs 25 projecting inwardly of the interior periphery thereof and extending for a short distance along the sleeve 24. The ribs 25 are spaced from each other by grooves 26. The inner periphery of the sleeve 24 also defines a first cylindrical die surface 27 positioned below the band of ribs 25 and having a diameter equal to the diameter at the bottom of grooves as for forming the shape of the unbroken continuous band 15 of the bullet 10.

The sleeve 24 also has a second cylindrical die surface 28 positioned above the band of ribs 25 and having a diameter slightly less than, but in no case greater than, the diameter at the inner surfaces 25a of ribs 25.

The female die 20 also has a nose end-forming die 29 slidable within and fitting with a clearance fit along the second die surface 28 of sleeve 24 so as to be movable therealong. The nose-forming die 29 obstructs the entire opening of sleeve 24 and is provided with a suitably venting the die 29 from falling out of the female die assembly 20.

The upper end surface 32 of the nose-forming die 29 is engageable against the lower end of a threaded adjustment sleeve 33 which is carried on the inner threads 34 at the upper end of mounting sleeve 21. The position of the sleeve 33 controls the upward extent of movement of the nose-forming die 29, thereby controlling the length of the bullet 10 above the grooves 17. An ejection rod 35 is slidably mounted within the sleeve 33 and is extendible downwardly into engagement with the nose-forming die 29 for urging the die in the lowermost position for ejecting the swaged bullet 10 after the forming operation is completed. The rod 35 has a cap 36 affixed as by threading to the upper end of rod 35 to permit application of pressure by a persons hand downwardly against the rod.

in a predetermined position with respect to sleeve 21.

The male die 38 is illustrated in FIG. 3, and has a cylindrical periphery 39 formed with a clearance fit in relation to the lower cylindrical die surface 27. The upper end 40 of the male die 38 will press the lead against the female die surfaces and nose-forming die to shape the lead of body 11 to the shape of the die. The male die 38 is provided with means such as groove 41 adapting the male die for attachment to the piston of a hand-loading press. The male die 38 is also provided with an aperture 42 extending through the male die and facilitating removing of excess lead applied into the female die. It will be understood that in operation, the male die is moved upwardly to a predetermined position and any excess lead having been previously inserted itno the female die will be squeezed into the opening 42 so as to allow the male die 38 to move upwardly through its entire desired stroke.

It will be understood that by adjusting the mounting sleeve 21 slightly upwardly and by using a slightly increased amount of lead in the female die, a bullet as illustrated in FIG. 5 may be formed wherein the band 15 has a width substantially greater than that illustrated in FIG. 1. The bullet 10' shown in FIG. 5 also has a slightly increased length at the nose end and specifically at 43, which additional length is facilitated by slightly adjusting the sleeve 33 upwardly, thereby raising the limit of upward movement of the nose-forming die 29 slightly as compared to that illustrated in FIG. 3.

Likewise in FIG. 6, the nose end 13' has a modified shape, substantially approximating the shape known as the semi-wad cutter shape. In addition, the bullet of FIG. 6 is lengthened as at 43 to a small extent to increase bullet weight.

It will be noted in FIG. 1 that the bullet 10 will ordinarily be applied in a cartridge case 50 so that substantially the entire length of grooves 16 are covered by the base sidewall of the case 50.

Whereas heretofore it has not been possible for hand loading of ammunition to produce swaged bullets of lead and provided with lubrication for minimizing barrel wear, the present invention has provided a new and improved bullet of swaged construction and suitably lubricated such that hand swaging and loading of the bullet is readily and easily done on a practical basis.

It will, of course, be understood that various changes may be made in the form, details, arrangement and proportions of the parts wtihout departing from the scope of my invention which consists of the matter shown and described herein and set forth in the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A bullet swaging die apparatus,

comprising a female die having a die opening with a generally cylindrical inner periphery for receiving a quantity of lead to be swaged into a bullet,

said inner periphery having a band of inwardly projecting and longitudinally extending parallel ribs spaced from each other therearound and defining a plurality of lead-receiving grooves therebetween, said inner periphery having a first diameter at the bottom of said grooves and also having a second diameter at the inner faces of said ribs and being less than said first diameter,

said inner periphery also defining a first cylindrical die surface adjacent one end of said ribs and lying flush with the bottoms of said grooves, said first cylindrical die surface having said first diameter,

said inner periphery also including a second cylindrical die surface at the other end of said ribs and having a diameter not greater than said second diameter,

a nose-forming die disposed adjacent said second cylindrical die surface and obstructing the die opening, said nose-forming die having a clearance fit with said second cylindrical die surface to permit movement of the nose-forming die therealong,

means mounting said nose-forming die and permitting sliding movement thereof toward and along said ribs and said first cylindrical die surface to permit ejection of a swaged bullet, said means preventing movement of said nose-forming die in the opposite direction,

and a male die having a clearance fit with said first cylindrical die surface and slidable within said opening to force the lead into the opening and noseforming die.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 587,342 8/97 Stewardson 10292 693,329 2/02 Neubauer 10292 2,393,155 1/46 Gaspar 291.22 3,106,008 10/63 Retallick 29--1.22

BENJAMIN A. BORCHELT, Primary Examiner. 

